Grey nomads are once again being warned to secure their possessions when away from their campsites.
There has been another spate of thefts from caravan parks, this time on the New South Wales South Coast where as many as nine bicycles valued at almost $9000 have been stolen from caravan parks in Tathra and Merimbula, and from the carport of a home at Pambula Beach.
The thefts all took place in a two-day period last Friday and Saturday, and police say some of the bicycles were unsecured at the time. They say travellers should store bikes and similar items out of sight, and secure them while unattended.
Campsite crime is a growing problem. A report prepared for the West Australian Office of Crime Prevention several years ago now concluded that caravan parks were vulnerable to determined criminals.
“Motivated offenders had detailed knowledge of various makes of caravans, were aware that locks on vans and canvas annexes are easily accessible and knew how to enter a van where people are asleep without making the van rock,” it said.
Although some grey nomads will doubtless disagree, the report – which carried out case studies of 36 caravan parks – concluded that van parks appeared to be safer than roadside stops and bush camps. It also said parks in busy holiday coastal regions were more vulnerable to crime than those in small rural towns.
The types of items commonly stolen included clothing from clotheslines or washing machines, alcohol and food from eskies, bicycles, fishing rods, mobile phones, laptops, wallets, handbags, generators, barbecues and gas bottles.
John H has been on the road full time for more than a decade and says he has been the victim of wannabe thieves on a couple of occasions.
“I brought a nice piece of rolled pork to cook and left in Engel,” he said. “And by the next morning it had been stolen!”
He also recalls a time when thieves tried to steal his cooker and started to undo the gas fitting on the back before realising it was chained up and giving up.
“It wasn’t until next night when I lit the cooker and flames shot up 30 centimetres from back of cooker that I realised what had happened,” he said. “Luckily there was no damage done … but it could have been quite serious.”
John now routinely chains up his belongings left in the annexe … and bought a motion sensor alarm system, although it has a few teething problems.
“I installed it and that same night it went off at 1.30am …. bloody hell was it loud, I reckon the thieves would be still running!” he said. “And another time, just after I had-adjusted the sensors, it went off at 4am and I think it may have been set off by a little old lady in her eighties on the way to an early toilet break … I hope she made it!”
* How do you protect your belongings while out on the road? Comment below
BBQ & Gas bottle (secured by chain), Bicycles (secured by proper bicycle locks), no fridge left in the annex & caravan has draw bar lock & wheel clamp if required. Have been travelling for 15+ years & lost nothing. Love it when other caravanners leave their stuff unsecured in their annex as you know it will be theirs stolen & not mine. Thieves are opportunists so take away the opportunity. Pretty easy really.
The real problem is that there is no deterrent enforced by our courts when these thieves are caught.
When leaving van take wallet, phone, computer, camera, money. Everything else is years old n not worth much. Have no jewellery. Have had no problems at free camps only caravan pk.